Michael Taylor Departs ‘Defiance’

If Syfy brings back “Defiance” for a second season (and judging by the initial numbers, that’s looking more and more likely every day), it will have to happen without Michael Taylor.

Taylor, who helped develop the series with Rockne S. O’Bannon, is leaving the show, according to Deadline.com. Details on his departure were not released.

Fans are quite familiar with Taylor’s work, which includes “Battlestar Galactica” and its spinoff, “Caprica.” He also was a producer and writer for “The Dead Zone” not long after he wrapped up work on both “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager.”

Taylor was twice nominated for a Hugo, first for the DS9 episode “The Visitor,” and later for the “Battlestar Galactica” telemovie “Razor.” He wrote six episodes of “Battlestar Galactica,” including the popular “Crossroads, Part 1” in 2007. He worked with “Defiance” showrunner Kevin Murphy on “Caprica” during its first-season run.

Taylor will be credited as an executive producer for the rest of the season, since filming has already wrapped. He also wrote Monday’s episode of “Defiance,” called “The Devil in the Dark,” which was directed by Omar Madha.

“The Visitor” was a fan-favorite of Star Trek fans, guest-starring Tony Todd as a much older Jake Sisko. Jake, normally played by Cirroc Lofton in the series, lost his father in a freak accident, and keeps seeing his dad, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) appear every couple of decades without aging.